


Dedicated to boa constrictors who've eaten an elephant

by elyteracy



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Aaron is tired, Age Regression/De-Aging, Fluff, Gen, Ice Cream, Kevin just wants peace, Pancakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-04
Updated: 2017-12-04
Packaged: 2019-02-10 13:48:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,866
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12913197
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elyteracy/pseuds/elyteracy
Summary: When Kevin wakes up, Andrew and Neil have turned back into an eight and a seven-year-old. Since panicking is always nicer when there are two people for it, he ropes Aaron into helping.





	Dedicated to boa constrictors who've eaten an elephant

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ahhhnorealnamesallowed](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ahhhnorealnamesallowed/gifts).



Kevin wakes up to two high-pitched voices whispering loudly. His mouth is dry and a monkey is dancing the samba in his head. Or seems like it.

"Do you think he's dead?" The first one says, his cheerful tone at odds with the gravity of his words. He has a faint British accent.

"Don't be stupid, he was snoring five minutes ago. Dead people don't snore."

There's a small humming sound like the second person is pondering on it. "Yes, that seems true," they say. "But he's not snoring anymore, so maybe he died between now and five minutes ago."

"That's dumb," voice number two says, with a flat tone. It reminds Kevin of someone.

He rolls on his other side. He blinks. In front of his bed, two kids are standing, both wearing clothes far too big for them. The first has bright red hair, very blue eyes, a face full of freckles and olive skin. The second has a mop of blond curls on his head, wary hazel eyes and a missing tooth, which Kevin notices when he opens his mouth to say: "I'm hungry."

"And I'm still drunk," he mutters more to himself than the dreamt-up kid, and flops back down on his bed.

His brain is determined to make him think otherwise, because a weight on his bed prevents him from going back to sleep. He sits back up. Redhead child, which he decides to dub Child #1, is sitting on his legs and staring at him expectantly. "How the fuck did you get in here?" Kevin grumbles.

Child #1 points at the top bunk on the other side of the room, where Neil usually sleeps. "I woke up there," he says. "Do you know where we are? Who are you? I'm looking for my mummy and my daddy."

Kevin shakes his head. He rubs his temples and sighs loudly. "Let's start with the basics, okay?" Both children nod at him, though the blond one is standing a couple feet away from the bed, out of reach. "I'm Kevin Day. What's your name?" He asks to Child #1.

Child #1 frowns at him. "Nathaniel," he says, a bit warily.

Kevin's blood freezes. He grabs the kid by the shoulders. "What's your last name? Where do you come from? Where are your parents?"

"Let me go!" The child cries out.

Kevin tightens his grip. Something heavy hits him in the head. He lets the kid go. He scrambles off the bed, runs to the other side of the room to grab something under Andrew's pillow, and points it at Kevin. His blue eyes are cold, and his mouth is set in a determined line. "I know how to use it," he says.

Kevin stares at the knife and slowly raises his hands. "Let's not be rash," he says, making a real effort to keep his voice quiet and soothing. It's definitely easier when you are held at knife-point by a child who was convinced you were dead five minutes ago. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Child #1 glares at him. "Then stop asking questions. I don't like people who ask questions," he says, and Kevin has a strong feeling of deja-vu.

Child #2 is standing next to him, arms crossed. Kevin glances quickly to the floor to see what hit him in the head. It's a heavy criminology textbook that belongs to Andrew.

"You know my name and my last name, now. It's not very fair," he points out, slowly lowering his hand. "I only know your first name and I don't know the name of your friend."

"I'm not his friend," Child #2 protests and takes a step away from Child #1.

"Okay, he's not your friend," Kevin says. "What is your name, though?"

"Andrew," Child #2 says. Kevin is on the edge of a breakdown.

He plasters on his media smile. "And your last name? Mine is Day."

"I know. You said that already. I'm not deaf," Andrew says with a pointed look. "My last name is Doe. It's because I don't have parents."

Kevin releases a shaky breath. This is bad. This can't be real. He's really concerned about what his drunk self got up to last night. "And so you, um, Nathaniel, what's your last name?"

Nathaniel squints suspiciously at him, his knife held tightly in his small hand. "Wesninski."

That's it, he's hallucinating. Or he'd died and this is his personal version of hell. Or he ingested a very weird drug last night. All of them are equally possible at this point.

It's nine am and he's already considering vodka. His alcohol addiction is getting out of hand.

"Okay," he says, to ground himself down. "You said you are hungry, right?"

Nathaniel and Andrew both look up at him with hopeful eyes. "Yes," they say in unison.

"Do you like pancakes?" Two nods. "I will make pancakes for breakfast, but only if you let the knife go. Children who point knives at people do not get pancakes."

Nathaniel pouts and stares at his knife, then Kevin, like he's weighing the cost-benefits of keeping the knife against pancakes. He reaches a decision, and slides the knife back under Andrew's pillow.

Kevin stands up out of his bed slowly, as to not startle anyone. He doesn't miss the way both children stay out of reach like they're afraid he's going to grab them.

"Are you cold?" He asks, only realizing that both of them are only in simple t-shirts and it's winter. "Do you even have anything underneath?"

Nathaniel raises his t-shirt to show a pair of boxers. It only holds onto his waist thanks to the elastic band. Andrew doesn't make a move to show anything, but he shakes his head. Kevin assumes it means he isn't cold.

He walks to the kitchen, followed by the pitter patter of four small feet behind him. He takes a quick look at the two of them, and turns on the coffee machine. He will need it.

The pancake recipe is hanged by magnets on the fridge. He'd found it ridiculous at first, but Neil wasn't always sure of the amounts at the beginning and preferred that to running around looking for the recipe. Kevin has never been so glad.

"What do you like on your pancakes?" Nathaniel asks Andrew.

Andrew climbs on the chair and sits straight, hands on the table. "I like Nutella and maple syrup."

Nathaniel scrunches his nose. "Together?" He asks.

"Not together, stupid, separated," Andrew says.

"I don't like nutella," Nathaniel says. "It's too sweet."

Andrew frowns at him, like he's trying to figure him out. "You're weird," he declares after a moment. "What do you like on your pancakes?"

"Fruits!" Nathaniel says with a smile. It's the first genuine smile Kevin has seen from any of the kids. "My favorite is strawberries."

"Why don't you help me?" Kevin offers. "Andrew you hold the bowl while Nathaniel mixes everything, and I'll add the milk slowly."

Andrew stands up on his chair and grabs the bowl. He has small hands and a bruise around his wrist. Kevin's stomach clenches. Pancakes, he distracts himself.

Nathaniel takes the whip and starts turning it in the bowl. Kevin slowly adds the milk. Nathaniel makes his best to mix everything together, his eyebrows pinched together in concentration. He's seen this expression before, on a taller redhead called Neil. If he had any misgiving about whether or not those two children were small(er) versions of Neil and Andrew, they are gone now.

He's turned crazy. He decides to have his mental break down once two kids are not in his responsibility anymore.

"That looks good," he says.

Nathaniel sits back down, swinging his legs, and looking pleased with himself. Andrew stares at Kevin while he makes the pancakes.

"Do you like exy?" Nathaniel blurts out.

"What is it?" Andrew asks, following the edge of the table with his fingers.

"It's a sport! You have a racket that looks like a Lacrosse racket, and you have to throw the ball in the goal," Nathaniel explains. "It's really cool."

Yes, that's Neil alright.

"I've never played it. My foster parents don't want to pay money for sport outside of school and they can't take me there. I've done swimming and basketball at school, but I'm not very good at basketball because I am so small," Andrew says with a scowl.

"I'm small too. You don't have to be tall to play exy, you can play with me," Nathaniel says.

Andrew makes a face. "I don't like running."

"That's okay, you can be goalkeeper. You only have to block shots from the opposite team."

Andrew stares at Nathaniel for a moment. "Okay," he accepts. Nathaniel beams at him. The tips of Andrew's ears turn pink.

Kevin serves them the pancakes. He puts maple syrup on the table and cuts a banana for Nathaniel to add on his pancake. He looks around making sure that no potentially dangerous cutlery is laying around.

"Okay you too, I need to—" _go get help because I think I'm crazy_ "— get a friend. You stay here and behave. If I come back to a mess, there will be a severe punishment."

Both children curl up on themselves, frightened looks on their face, and Kevin instantly knows he fucked up. He sighs, rubs his temple, realizes what he is doing, and sends a sorry to Wymack for all those times they gave him hell. "I didn't mean— You won't get hit, I promise you. I'll just make you clean everything and you won't get any more pancakes. Fine?"

"Yes, sir," Nathaniel says.

Kevin closes his eyes briefly. "You don't have to call me sir. I'm just Kevin," he says. "Anyway, just behave, that's all I ask."

He runs to Nicky and Aaron's dorms. Only Aaron is there, because Nicky went to Germany for Christmas break and Matt is staying with his mom.

He pounds on the door, shouting Aaron's name. Aaron pulls the door open with a scowl on his face. "What the fuck do you want, asshole?"

"I— just— I need to show you something. It's in our dorms and it's very important," he says, because how the hell do you explain that you have two small children in your kitchen and they seem to be child version of your teammates. You don't, case in point.

Aaron glares at him. "This better be good," he mutters and closes the door behind him.

Kevin leads him back to his dorm.

Aaron stops at the door of the kitchen, his eyes wide. "What the fuck," he whispers, looking genuinely shocked.

"That's a bad word," Nathaniel says. "My mummy says that I shouldn't say it."

Andrew doesn't say anything but stares at Aaron with curiosity. He's transformed his plate into a sea of maple syrup. What is left of his pancake looks like a submerged island.

"I woke up and they were both in the bedroom," Kevin says. "They are named Nathaniel and Andrew."

Aaron blinks a few times. He turns around and Kevin hears him mutter: "Lack of sleep can cause hallucinations, I think I need a nap."

Kevin grabs his arm before he can leave. "I don't think it's a hallucination."

"That's even worse, Kevin," Aaron says. "People just don't de-age suddenly! This isn't a sci-fi movie. Like how the fuck did this even happen? Why are my twin and his... whatever-the-fuck-Neil-is two six years old now?"

"I'm seven," Nathaniel pipes up. "How old are you Andrew?"

"Eight," Andrew says, before shoving an enormous piece of pancake in his mouth, like he is worried someone is going to take it away from him. He has syrup all over his mouth and cheeks.

Nathaniel looks at him and laughs. "What?" Andrew grumbles.

Nathaniel points at his cheek. "You have syrup here," he says. "And here. Also here, and here and... all over your face!"

Andrew scowls at Nathaniel. "Well you have marker all over your nose and cheeks." He furrows his eyebrow and pokes Nathaniel's cheekbone and rubs. "It doesn't come off."

Nathaniel grabs his hand. "That's because it isn't marker. They are freckles."

Aaron leans closer to Kevin and whispers: "It's been proven that group hallucinations are possible. The only other explanation is that we've both stepped into an alternate dimension."

"Alternate dimension or not, it doesn't change the fact that we have two children in our dorm room."

"You dorm room," Aaron corrects. "Do I need to remind you that Neil kicked me out of this very dorm to be with my brother?" His face twists with irritation, but he doesn't seem as bothered as he made it sound.

"Who's Neil?" Andrew says, standing in front of them both. He peers at Aaron with curiosity.

Kevin grimaces. "He's— huh— A friend," he says. Aaron snorts, muttering something about Kevin having a very loose definition of friendship. Kevin is too busy panicking about having two of his teammates as pint-sized version of themselves to retaliate.

Nathaniel hops from his chair and starts to leave the kitchen. "Where do you think you're going?" Aaron calls him, crossing his arms.

Nathaniel looks back at him with unimpressed eyes. "I'm going to go play with Andrew. I want to teach him Exy."

"If there was any doubt, he's Neil all right," Aaron grumbles under his breath. "And do you think I'm your maid or what? Clean up your plate."

Nathaniel huffs but climbs back on his chair to gather both Andrew's and his plate. He leaves them in the sink and sends a poisonous glance to Aaron. "You are too rude to be a skivvy anyway," he says.

He takes Andrew's sleeve and pulls him after him toward the living room. "Exy is really cool you'll see. I saw a magazine in the bedroom, I'll show you," he babbles to his friend.

"A what?" Aaron asks Kevin.

Kevin shrugs and makes a quick search on his phone. "He said you're too rude to be a maid, basically. But it's like— not nice," he reads from the page.

"I'm going to kill him," Aaron declares. "He's even smaller than usual, I'll never get an opportunity like this."

"Do not," Kevin says making his way to the sink to clean the dishes. "He's still one of our best players."

"He's not even four feet tall right now!" Aaron says, exasperated.

Kevin ignores him, stubbornly scrubbing the plate from all its sticky brown syrup.

* * *

Aaron finds Neil and Andrew in the living room, on their belly, looking at an Exy journal. Neil is rambling about strikers and pointing at various pictures.

When they hear him, they both look up like they've been interrupted doing something important, and the two gazes on him are very reminiscent of their adult self.

"Do you play exy?" Neil asks.

"I do," Aaron answers, leaning against the wall.

"What position?"

"Backliner."

Neil wrinkles his nose and knocks his shoulder with Andrew. "You can't be a backliner," he tells him.

Andrew levels him with unimpressed eyes. "Why?"

"Because," Neil says, stubbornly.

"You are an idiot," Andrew says and looks back to the exy magazine. "I'll play goalie. I told you already."

"Why," Neil whines and rolls dramatically on the floor, before rolling back to Andrew and slumping over him. "You will be so far away from me on the court."

"Good," Andrew says making Neil only whine harder. Andrew reaches over and pinches his nose. "We can still play together. I'll protect you from behind." Neil quietens, having rolled on his back now. Andrew tugs a little at his hair and Neil turns his head toward him. Andrew pokes his cheek, then follows his freckles with the tip of his finger. Neil hums. The scene is so ridiculously cute that Aaron kind of wants to punch something.

Even bite-size, Andrew and Neil aren't so different and it makes Aaron angry.

* * *

The good thing about Andrew being an eight-years-old is that his tastes have not changed at all. He's digging into an enormous chocolate fudge ice cream that his twenty-year self could perfectly order. Aaron and Kevin, at lost with what to do with two eight years old and after decided that their video games were probably too violent for them, had brought them to the mall. (MarioKart was fine violence-wise, but the anger and bitterness it produced from his players were the reason Aaron had looked two seconds at it and decided that no, he wasn't going to play.)

It had required an emergency trip to the closest shopping store to find child-size clothes, and Aaron hadn't even bothered with colors. Meaning Neil was wearing a bright pink t-shirt that clashed with his red hair and Andrew was decked in a striped t-shirt that made him look like an angel. They'd added two big coats that dwarfed the both of them, scarves, rainboots and two little beanies. Neil's is orange with little fox ears, and Andrew's is gray and a wolf.

Andrew opens his mouth wide and shoves the ice cream in his mouth. His mouth is more chocolate than skin at this point, and Aaron wrinkles his nose in disgust but doesn't do anything. Eating ice cream in winter is not his idea of a good time either.

Neil, even at seven, has a simple ice cream of vanilla and lemon, eating in small bites. "Can we play exy?" He asks Kevin, now informed that Kevin is an exy player and a striker.

"No," Kevin refuses, which is probably the first ever time Aaron has heard him say no to Exy. He should maybe mark the date on his calendar. "The Court isn't open."

Neil pouts. "That's not fair! Why is it not open?"

"Because it's winter break," Aaron replies and takes a bite of his waffle.

"But if you don't practice then you'll be all lousy."

"Mind your business, brat," Aaron tells him.

Neil frowns at him but doesn't say anything which honestly, Aaron is going to miss when Neil goes back to his almost-adult form.

"Maybe we should call Wymack," Kevin says.

Aaron frowns. "Why?"

"I don't know how to take care of a child," Kevin grumbles. "And we have two."

Aaron, thinking about the burn mark on Neil's shoulder, and the way Neil used to lean away from Wymack when he first came, thinking about Andrew and his straight face, saying _the first time I was seven_ , says: "No."

Kevin, though mostly oblivious, must sense the seriousness of Aaron's tone. "Fine," he accepts, and goes back to his own ice cream, something bland which will not affect his diet.

Andrew finishes his ice cream and looks at his bowl like he's already regretting being done. He throws a glance at Kevin and Aaron but doesn't say anything.

Neil looks at him and pushes his bowl. "I'm full," he says. He wasn't looking very invested into the ice cream anyway, but Aaron is not fooled one moment. "You can have it if you want, Andrew."

Andrew furrows his eyebrow, a skeptical look in his eye. It's weird to see so many emotions of the face of his brother, even if the face is youthful, with wide hazel eyes and round cheeks. "You can't take it back," he warns Neil.

"I don't want it," Neil says and opens the small leaflet he's been given at the entrance of the restaurant.

"I'm going to eat everything."

Neil starts coloring a tree in green, his eyebrows pulled together from concentration. "That's okay. I gave it to you."

Andrew huffs and starts eating the ice cream. Aaron rolls his eyes. Kevin is bemused.

"Can you believe they do the same thing at twenty and twenty-one?" Kevin whispers.

"Don't remind me," Aaron grumbles.

* * *

Kevin grabs his shoulder, hair everywhere and breathing loudly. "I don't know where they are!" He tells Aaron, panic in his eyes.

Aaron automatically looks around looking for one blond and one red haired children but doesn't see anything. "What do you mean? You lost them?"

Kevin sighs loudly and runs a hand through his hair. That explains the mess it is. "They were next to me one moment and the next they'd just –" he shakes his hands looking for the word "– disappeared!"

Aaron takes a deep breath, trying not to panic. It's Tuesday early afternoon, which means there aren't a lot of people. "I'm never becoming a parent," he grumbles.

Kevin looks close to apoplexy and Aaron decides to take the matter into his own hands. "Where were you the last time you saw them?"

Kevin leads him in the wide hallway of the mall. Aaron looks around, but there is no child around. He looks more closely at the stores around him.

"Toy store, they are probably inside," he says, trying to stay level-headed and logical. Fucking Neil Josten, as annoying at eight years old than twenty.

As it turns out, Andrew and Neil are not in the toy store. They shout their name in the entire store, checking the Lego aisle, then the cars and Playmobil and even trying the doll and Barbie aisles, but they don't find anything. An employee of the store tells them to please quieten down. Aaron tells her politely to fuck off.

"If we lose them we are dead," Kevin says.

"Stop being so dramatic," Aaron tells him, knowing full well it's practically impossible for Kevin Day to not be dramatic.

A sport store catches his eye. In the display is a wide goalie racket. He sighs, wondering how he could have been this stupid and drags Kevin inside.

They find Neil and Andrew comparing rackets bigger than themselves. Andrew seems more curious than the usual indifference he uses when Neil babbles to him.

"You two!" Aaron growls. They look up at him, innocence etched on their features. "If you ever disappear like this again, you will be grounded for two weeks. No ice cream!" He warns and seeing that Neil looks unaffected by the threat, adds: "And no exy."

This time it works, and Neil looks properly chastised.

"Sorry," Andrew says, looking anything but.

Kevin sighs. "Let's just... go home," he says, and Aaron agrees.

On the trip home, Neil sings with the radio and Andrew tells him he's an idiot, but is clearly amused by the entire situation. There's a small smile tugging at his lips, and Aaron stares in the mirror, trying to commit it to memory, a little glimpse of the stolen years with his twin.

* * *

They jump on the couch once home. "What do we do now?" Neil asks, looking up at them with his wide blue eyes.

Kevin groans. "Just play with Andrew, I'm tired."

Neil pouts. "But I want you to play with us!" He complains.

Andrew tugs at his sleeve and leans forward to whisper something in his ear, his eyes on Kevin and Aaron. Aaron squints suspiciously at them.

Neil grins, his eye twinkling mischievously. This is not going to end well.

Neil throws the pillow at Kevin. Kevin finds himself with a face full of fabric. When he blinks back at them, Neil is laughing, Andrew is grinning and even Aaron huffs with amusement.

Kevin narrows his eyes at them. "You are on!" He declares and throws themselves at the two kids. Neil shrieks with laughter and dodges out of the way, as nimble as his twenty years old self.

Andrew grabs his own pillow and throws it at his brother. Aaron catches it and decks Andrew in the face who makes a muffled noise of surprise in the pillow. He runs away and comes back with Kevin's pillow, stolen from the bedroom, held high over his head. His face is pinched with determination. He barrels into Aaron who falls backward in surprise. Andrew attacks him with the pillow.

"Shit! Andrew! Stop, stop! You win," he shouts.

Andrew, sitting on his belly, grins triumphantly. "I win," he says.

Aaron lets himself fall back, his arms over his head. "You win," he agrees.

Andrew huffs with pride and stands to go help Neil take Kevin down.

"Grab his leg," he tells Neil, who obeys, holding on Kevin's leg like a koala. Kevin tries to shake Neil off, which only makes him old tighter.

"Fuck, get off me," he grumbles. The entire scene is ridiculous and hilarious. Andrew climbs on the couch and throws the pillow at Kevin, who has to move to avoid it. Since it's apparently hard to walk with a child holding onto your leg, who would have known, Kevin almost trips. He has to catch himself on the back of the couch. Distracted, he can't avoid Andrew's next attack, and eats blue and white pillowcase.

"Surrender," Andrew tells him.

Kevin collapses on the couch. "I surrender," he breathes out.

Neil grins at Andrew and holds out his hand. Andrew stares at it for a moment before taking it. They shake hands like two businessmen.

* * *

They tuck Andrew and Neil in the same bed, Andrew's bed. They'd tried separating them, but Neil had crossed his arms, as serious as a seven years old can be and declared he wouldn't leave Andrew to sleep alone.

Aaron had taken one look at them before decided that he was not fucking paid to do this and told them to do whatever they wanted.

"Can you read us a story?" Andrew asks, peering over the cover with almost green eyes. Aaron realizes it's his first demand of the day and he feels anger spark up behind his teeth, thinking of Andrew's broken childhood. (Not that his own was much better. Maybe it was, he's not entirely sure.)

"What do you want?" Aaron asks.

Andrew looks doubtful, like he's not sure if Aaron is actually going to read the story. "The Little Prince," he mumbles.

Aaron purses his lips. "I'm not sure we have it," he says, forcing himself to soften his tone.

"Yes we do," Andrew says. "It's in the bedside table."

Aaron frowns and opens it. Io and behold, he finds the book. It's old but well-taken care of. The cover is simple, just white with the title written in a golden font. It's a beautiful book. Aaron wonders where Andrew got it.

He opens the first page. He runs a finger over the words, wondering how many times Andrew did it before him. " _Once when I was six years old I saw a magnificent picture in a book, called **True Stories from Nature, about the primeval forest**_ ," he reads. He stops for a moment, looking at his audience. Andrew is curled up on himself, back against the wall. Neil is a bit lower on the bed, on his side, blinking at him.

"Can you do voices?" Andrew asks.

"Voices?"

"For the different characters."

"Oh. Yes, okay, I will do the voices."

Andrew settles back, a satisfied look on his face.

Aaron goes back to the book. " _It was a picture of a boa constrictor in the act of swallowing an animal. Here is a copy of the drawing,_ " he says and shows them the picture in question.

They both look at it with tired eyes. They are asleep by the end of the third chapter.

* * *

Kevin isn't sleeping, quietly reading on his phone with the lights off, when Andrew wakes up with a gasp. Kevin hides his phone and stays unmoving.

Andrew looks around, until his gaze falls on Neil.

"You're awake," he whispers.

"You woke me up," Nathaniel says.

"Sorry."

There's the sound of shifting sheets. "Go back to sleep," Andrew tells him.

"I don't want to," Nathaniel refuses.

"Why?"

"You had a nightmare."

"You can't do anything against a nightmare," Andrew mutters.

"I can protect you."

A moment of silence. Andrew slinks back under the cover. "You can't always protect me," Andrew says. "You will go away later. Or I will go away. It's always like this."

"I'll find you again," Nathaniel says.

"You're a kid, it's not possible."

"Then when I am a grown-up I will find you again. Even if you are on the other side of the world."

"That's stupid," Andrew mutters.

They become silent. Kevin believes they've gone back to sleep. He almost misses Andrew, saying with a little voice: "Promise?"

"Promise," Nathaniel answers, certain and determined.

* * *

Kevin wakes up to male voices talking. The sun is in his eyes, and he feels like he's been run over by a car.

"Why are you even in my bed?" Andrew grumbles.

"I don't know," Neil replies. "You're wearing my shirt."

Kevin opens his eyes, startled. He sits up. Two pairs of eyes, one blue and one hazel peer at him. They both belong to adult Neil and Andrew.

Kevin breathes a sigh of relief. "Thank god," he says and falls back on the bed.

"What's his problem?" Neil says, not even bothering to lower his voice.

"Do I look like I care?" Andrew mutters.

Yes, they are properly back. Kevin could almost cry from joy. He settles for going back to sleep, a smile on his face.

(And if Neil gently brushes Andrew's curls off his forehead and murmurs _found you_ , well, no one but them needs to know.)

**Author's Note:**

> happy holidays!!!
> 
>  
> 
> [join me on tumblr](http://elyteracy.tumblr.com)

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [pythons/elephants (the little wild animals remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/15045449) by [badacts](https://archiveofourown.org/users/badacts/pseuds/badacts)




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